Dec 28 Student Debt Bubble: 43% of Loans “In Distress”

Student loan debt has grown to over $1.5 trillion. And that just accounts for loans held by Federal Student Aid. It doesn’t include private loans. Meanwhile, the Department of Education says 43% of those government-backed loans are considered “in distress.”

In a speech last month, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos put the current level of student debt in perspective.

One-point-five trillion dollars is almost impossible to fathom. So, let me put it this way: $1.5 trillion is more than $10,000 of someone else’s student loan debt for each and every American taxpayer—145 million of them.”

Most people saddled with this debt aren’t paying it off. According to DeVos, fewer than a quarter of student loan borrowers are paying down their principal. Most are simply making interest payment — if they are paying anything at all. Nearly 20% of all loans are delinquent or in default. That’s seven times the rate of delinquency on credit card debt, according to DeVos. Nearly 43% of all loans are currently considered “in distress.”